Chapter 13: Embarrassment (1)
[Checking the status window and talent levels of the player Lee Jihye.]
[Name: Lee Jihye]
[Title: None. You should try a little harder.]
[Age: 29]
[Disposition: Selfish Ambitionist]
[Class: None]
[Stats]
[Strength: 05/Growth potential: common or lower]
[Agility: 09/Growth potential: common or lower]
[Vitality: 10/Growth potential: common or lower]
Intelligence: 20/Growth potential: rare or higher]
[Endurance: 08/Growth potential: common or lower]
[Luck: 15/Growth potential: common or lower]
[Mana: 00/Growth potential: common or lower]
[Overview: Congratulations, player Lee Kiyoung. You’ve finally met with misfortune. The perfect couple, forged from low stats and terrible potential, has been born. Make sure to use contraception. If the two of you really conceive a child together, I would feel sorry for the 2nd generation born from your union.]
“What couple.”
This woman was a little smarter than I’d previously thought. No, to be more exact, it wasn’t that she was exceptionally brilliant.
However, her ability to read the situation, decisiveness, and willingness to act were worth taking a look at.
I understood why Kim Hyunsung had entrusted the group to this woman.
She was quick-witted and knew how to respond appropriately.
The fact that she had thrown Jung Hayan, who she had been keeping in check over the past few days, over to me gave me a rough idea of what she wanted.
She likely wanted to hold onto the main body while cutting off any loose ends.
Of course, she may have other reasons, but I didn’t need to know about those.
I swallowed and examined Lee Jihye’s stats once more.
Her rate of growth wasn’t bad. Compared to the last time I’d seen her, her vitality had risen by 1 point, her intelligence by 2, and her luck by a total of 3 points.
‘How did she do it?’
The question was how she had increased her stats.
In the case of intelligence, it was possible to infer that this stat wasn’t based simply on one’s critical thinking ability or existing knowledge.
For instance, Jung Hayan, despite having high intelligence, was lacking in some aspects.
On the other hand, Lee Jihye was the opposite. She was shrewd even though her intelligence stat was lower than Jung Hayan’s.
Perhaps one’s magical aptitude or ability to understand the relevant knowledge was the basis of the intelligence stat.
Her luck increase was strange as well. When I had last checked, her luck stat was 12.
I didn’t understand how her luck would have increased overnight.
I had a hunch that it was connected to my high level of luck, but that was just a guess.
I had to do a little more thinking about the way stats worked.
“You’re up early.”
“Because I have a lot to think about.”
Lee Jihye stood next to me, making no effort to hide the fact that she was staring.
She had seemed fine yesterday, but her expression seemed a little clearer than before.
“Deal with Yoo Seokwoo and keep an eye on Jung Hayan. If anything out of the ordinary happens to her, inform me right away.”
“Should you be saying that to the woman you’ve kissed….”
“Don’t talk nonsense…”
“Well. I’ll take care of it. I think I know what you’re planning, but what’s special about this woman?”
‘She’s a calculating bitch.’
“Noona doesn’t need to know.”
“You!”
I could see her face flush red when I called her noona.
Her age was probably a sensitive topic.
Lee Jihye bit her lips slightly.
We hadn’t turned into a loving couple nor teammates who would guard each other’s backs overnight.
To a certain extent, this was a contractual relationship.
There had been no itemised list of terms, but we had both tacitly agreed to make use of each other and went through the process of forming that arrangement.
It was a contract that could easily fall through at any given moment, but for the time being, it would let us believe in each other at the very least.
The question was how long this relationship would last.
There was no problem if we respected each other and kept each other in line, but no one could say what the future held.
I sighed lightly and began to speak.
“By the way, why did Jihye-ssi choose me?”
“I told you, Kiyoung oppa. I like ambitious men.”
She wasn’t the only one who had to live up to expectations.
Just as I could discard her at any moment, she could easily do the same.
What mattered for now was my own growth and Jung Hayan.
Lee Jihye wouldn’t brag about our ‘relationship’ randomly.
Because it was in her favour too.
But she might hint at it if she was in the mood while working.
It was important to know how it would affect Jung Hayan.
Being socially inept meant that she inevitably struggled with expressing and being receptive to emotions.
She didn’t have any parents, and lost contact with her sisters a long time ago.
In other words, Jung Hayan was not only unfamiliar with forming relationships with others, but was likely starved for affection.
I had to increase her attachment to me and in the process, her dependency.
Lee Jihye would help me with that.
* * *
Things were handled faster than expected. There had been no trial or anything of that sort for Yoo Seokwoo.
I wasn’t sure if he knew that Lee Jihye had sided with me, but Yoo Seokwoo quickly admitted that he was at fault, and was given a suitable punishment that everyone agreed upon.
Of course, to some extent, Lee Jihye’s influence played a role in this outcome. What was amusing was that she stuck to an attitude of ‘I was powerless in this matter’.
In addition to directing their anger towards me, she stealthily began to manipulate public opinion into believing that some of the blame rested on Jung Hayan’s shoulders.
‘I was unable to help because of Lee Kiyoung.’
‘He values Jung Hayan.’
Those were the unspoken words that could be inferred from her behaviour.
Due to this, Jung Hayan was forced to bear the hatred of everyone else. While watching Lee Jihye’s process of manipulation, I couldn’t help but feel that Lee Jihye was more awful than I’d thought.
‘This is a woman who’s good at bullying.’
If I could describe this in terms of a stats, then it would be beyond legendary.
I didn’t lift a finger to stop her.
Ultimately, this process succeeded in providing the optimal environment for Jung Hayan to be thoroughly isolated and harassed by those around her.
In this situation where everyone hated Jung Hayan, there was nothing she could do to redeem herself.
Eventually, there was only one place she could turn.
Thanks to this, I had been listening to Jung Hayan’s weeping for days.
“S-so… hic...”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes… I’m fine… Thank you. O-o-oppa. I’m too much of a… I know you’re busy…”
“No, not at all. Thank you for telling me this. If you work a little harder, the others will likely recognise your efforts. Of course, I already know that Hayanie is doing her best.”
To be honest, it wasn’t easy to pretend to be a good person.
“But….”
“It’ll be alright. We’re going to go hunting together from now on. I’ve already discussed it with Hyunsung-ssi…”
“I-it’s just someone like me… Will that be okay?”
“Of course.”
I smiled slightly and patted her on the head.
What I’d accomplished so far could be called an achievement.
It seemed that the time I’d spent wasn’t meaningless, if she was this scared by the thought of interacting with others.
I had the urge to take a picture to commemorate this before we left.
But I already knew that I couldn’t hurry this process…
‘Slowly.’
I didn’t want a relationship that could crumble as easily as a sand castle.
The ties binding us together needed to be stronger.
“O-oppa, I’m glad you’re here. I-if I were alone…”
“No, you don’t know how relieved I am to have Hayanie next to me. How is your mana circulation going? Have you made any progress?”
“Yes. It seems to be working for now. I think I can feel it inside me. If I send it through my arms, I might be able to strengthen….”
“What about casting magic spells?”
“I-I’m still not sure.”
In fact, chatting with Jung Hayan wasn’t just for the sole purpose of improving our relationship.
Much like Park Deokgu, who was struggling to get used to his new class and familiarising himself with shields, I needed time to acquaint myself with the [Wizard] class.
The frequent excursions Kim Hyunsung had been taking on his own recently may have been made with the intention of giving us that time.
‘Visualise.’
Magic was the result of visualising what one wanted to do with mana.
The process of spell-casting was an essential aid to visualisation.
I also had a hard time implementing magic for the first time. The basic knowledge was in my head, but I found it difficult to achieve the result I wanted.
I needed to build a tower with my mana. A solid tower without any cracks or air inside.
At the same time, I thought of the action that I wanted to realise in my head.
I pictured flames rising from my fingers.
“Hear my voice. Respond. Flame.”
At the same time, a small flame rose from my finger.
Jung Hayan watched it with a slightly surprised look on her face.
“Wow…”
“I think it’s important to clearly define what you want to achieve in your mind. It’s more convenient if the spell is simple but I don’t think it matters if it’s a little long… The point is that it coincides with your thoughts.”
The disadvantage was that most spells that were easy to visualise were useless.
Thinking about those spells that could only be dubbed chuuni-like[1], I felt my face heating up.
“I see.”
“In my case, rather than manifesting magic itself, I’m thinking of harnessing mana to enhance myself… You’ll probably find your own preferred method as well. I mean, it may seem difficult now, but it’ll be a bit easier if you get a class.”
“As expected… I understand.”
It might not be possible to use magic unless you have a class.
Given that Kim Hyunsung, who had quite a lot of mana, was unable to use magic, it seemed that you couldn’t overcome the limits of your class.
The reason for giving Jung Hayan all of this knowledge, despite that fact, was obvious.
‘I favour her.’
There was no easier way to get close to someone than by teaching or learning from them.
Even if I told her in advance what she would later learn, I wouldn’t lose out.
“You might not be able to use magic until you get a class. Still, let’s practice building up your mana step by step.”
“Yes. L-leave it to me. O-oppa, I’ll do my best.”
I nodded naturally.
[Mana has increased by 1.]
[Intelligence has increased by 1.]
‘Good.’
“It’s possible that the more you use it, the more mana you’ll have in the future. Personally, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Ye-yes.”
“Then, shall we stop here for today?”
“A-a-actually, there’s something I don’t understand….”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I-I mean recently, I’ve had another surge in my mana…”
As I listened to her explain, I checked out Jung Hayan’s stat window.
I was curious about the progress she’d made so far.
[Checking the status window and talent levels of the player Jung Hayan.]
[Name: Jung Hayan]
[Title: None. You should try a little harder.]
[Age: 21]
[Disposition: Pure Advocate]
[Class: Wizard (Common Grade)]
[Stats]|
[Endurance: 11/Growth potential: rare or lower]
[Agility: 11/Growth potential: rare or lower]
[Vitality: 14/Growth potential: heroic or lower]
[Intelligence: 22/Growth potential: heroic or higher]
[Endurance: 14/Growth potential: rare or lower]
[Luck: 23/Growth potential: heroic or higher]
[Mana: 15/Growth potential: legendary or higher]
[Equipment: None]
[Attribute: How to Be a Wizard – Rating: Heroic]
‘What? Wizard?’
What stood out was the class title of Wizard.
“Because my mana isn’t circulating well.”
The brightly smiling Jung Hayan once again caught my eye.
‘What are you…’
I couldn’t help but notice that something was wrong.
***
[1] Chuunibyou – Aka. 8th grader syndrome & associated delusions of grandeur.